


Perkatory

by Asmodeus



Series: Christmas Coffee [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, M/M, Ugly Holiday Sweaters, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-22 07:32:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13162239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asmodeus/pseuds/Asmodeus
Summary: sometimes the worst ideas come from those you trust -- or at least the ugliest sweaters.





	Perkatory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [STARSdidathing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/STARSdidathing/gifts).



> unbeta'd !! the other half of the coffee shop christmas fic. c:  
> this half is gifted to stars bc i have read enough of your fics to know you have a thing for pining loki -- so have my late mysterious gift. hope your holidays went well stranger !!

Holiday season and the christmas parades were always guarantees for business, especially new folks who needed a hot drink to keep their hands warm.

Loki seen this new face long before that. He may not act or look it, but Loki, when he wasn’t managing all the business and ordering of The Perkatory, was carefully watching who came in and out of the cafe. This new face, the day before the big parade, had come in again for paperwork. He puts on headphones, orders a single coffee from Bucky or Natasha at the counter, then sets to work on … orders, and paychecks.

Loki has always found himself intrigued by the other, a man named Tony he learnt from his name called out for his coffee. He tried to sneak glances at his paperwork and the track record on them for weeks, but Loki had to reply on Natasha and Bucky as they cleaned up to actually get information -- and that was when he learnt that this man was the owner of another coffee shop -- Cool Beans.

Tony came in every other week for well… weeks. Loki noticed him but Tony never noticed Loki, always needing a quieter place to do his work it seemed. Here and there he would be caught staring and mercilessly teased by Natasha, the woman a constant thorn in his side after anyone that entered the cafe and was remotely Loki’s type. Natasha seemed to know that this guy -- Tony -- was a more serious prospect than the others.

So she got to work.

Loki didn’t know what she did, but when she was off she would swing by the cafe and chit chat in private with Bucky. Other days while she was at work she would talk to Tony when he ordered his coffee, her cheerful work face that so many knew but so few knew was just a cover for her real personality. Loki never judged her for it, the work face or the fact she was talking with the guy they all knew he was building a crush on. She had her eyes on someone else and Loki trusted her not to mess up what he was trying not to even start.

Early December she arrives to shift with a bundle of fabric in her arms. Bad fabric. Scratchy wool handknit sweaters sort of fabric. There is not an ounce of him that wants to wear any of them. But Natasha has them dropped onto the first table she can get access to and gives a come hither look to Loki.

Promising.

‘ Cool Beans has a December deal -- ugly sweaters are free coffee’s. So we are going to dress you up in some ugly sweaters and you are going to go flirt with this man or so help me I will tell him next time he comes in. ‘ Her eyes meant business as her voice dropped, a dangerous tone as Natasha kept eye contact with him.

He wants to go with her plan, wants to openly flirt with Tony when he’s in the other man's coffee shop. But when Loki gets there he tenses up, he loses what little cool he had. He had been watching Tony for weeks now, gathering odd facts and just enjoying having him in the same building as himself -- speaking to him was another matter altogether. So Loki has to bless whatever lucky stars existed that when he gets in there its -- oh its the man Natasha had a thing for at the cash register.

His order is taken and its Tony who delivers it though. Its a bit awkward, he’s stiff from being anxious, but Tony only hands him his tea and asks for a photo for the wall. Then Loki leaves. He’s questioned immediately when he makes it back to the Perkatory, and Natasha and Bucky are both sighing, disappointed in Loki’s charm not holding up to pressure in the end. So of course they have to try again, a slightly uglier sweater in the hopes that Loki would pull through.

Things go the same as last time, Loki goes in with nothing but an ugly sweater and leaves with a tea.

Natasha and Bucky are sure that they have to step in a little more now, because they start to do arts and crafts mid-shift on a free table while Loki mans the counter one day. There’s tiny wreaths and little gold boys and scissors and Loki is absolutely terrified of whatever those two had cooked up. He’s rightfully terrified as well. The conclusion to their arts and crafts time is the ugliest sweater they could ever concoct, and they’re going to make Loki wear it.

He fights them on it for three days until he gives in.

Then he gives Tony his number.

Loki doesn’t get a text for four days after, and he starts to panic. Natasha has forbid him from working and sentenced him to only managing the cash register while her and Bucky handle the food and drinks. It’s a busy day anyways, the parade in town the day after current, and while people needn’t be out this day he’s sure that they shouldn’t be here anyways. It was brisk out in the cool air ( something Loki was more than used to after years in it as a child ) but when Tony comes in, arms crossed as he rubs them for warmth, he beelines for the cash register with his wallet out. He doesn’t make eye contact, barely talks, so Loki does the same. Tony never notices its Loki and whatever hope Loki had had crashes down.

Natasha and Bucky both look at him with pity, something Loki doesn’t want right now. But he has to finish the shift, and Tony was a customer. Loki is cleaning tables, shoulders still dropped as he gathers plates in stacks. Head down he walks by the table Tony’s at -- and cool fingers wrap around a slim wrist to stop him.

‘ Hey -- never knew you worked here. ‘ Tony sounds surprised but happy, excited almost, and it drives Loki to be more confused in his emotions than ever. ‘ Not going to lie ?? I lost your number, it fell into the sink during dishes and it was gone and you didn’t come back and -- ‘

Tony’s rambling and Loki can’t help but think it’s cute that Tony was just as flustered in the end as Loki was. Placing the dishes down on Tony’s table ( careful of the paperwork ), he holds a finger up to Tony’s lips, before leaning in and replacing it in less than a second with his own. It’s sweet, a careful meeting between the two as Natasha whistles behind them at the counter.

‘ I was worried too, but I’m glad you came back. ‘ His smile is soft as he flips Natasha off behind him and picks up the pile of dishes. ‘ Care to join me for coffee later ?? ‘

‘ I’d love to. ‘


End file.
